


Just Add Water

by aoigensou



Category: Slow Starter (Manga)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-05 04:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aoigensou/pseuds/aoigensou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ino decides to surprise Kiyo with a homemade meal on the anniversary of their confession.  Things don't exactly go according to plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Add Water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tanyart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanyart/gifts).



> I meant for this to get porny but the two of them wouldn't cooperate. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! Happy holidays, Tanya!
> 
> Thank you so much to the lovely Ms. C for the fastest yet somehow most thorough beta I've had in a while!

Ino had no idea what had come over him. He had never been the domestic type. He'd never had to prepare his own meals before, and had never really had the desire to try until now. He stared at the mess in front of him: the mangled vegetables and the boiling water; the steam rising and condensing on the stove hood above. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, wondering if he should just toss everything into the trash and sneak out as if he had never been there, but it was a special occasion. He'd been planning the night for weeks, and had looked up countless videos on YouTube to prepare.

While the videos made making homemade ramen look easy, the reality was quite different. Groaning, Ino stabbed a chunk of daikon on the cutting board, sending it flying across the tiny kitchen to land on the edge of the tatami in the living room. Ramen was supposed to be simple! How hard could it be if all the instant stuff took was pouring in some boiling water and waiting a few minutes?

Turning the burner off, Ino pulled his laptop out of his bag, plugged it in and connected to the internet. Maybe if he played the video at the same time as he was cooking, it would be a little easier. He wasn't going to give up, no matter what, and Kiyo was going to be home soon. Setting the laptop out of the way on the counter, he started the video and tightened his apron strings. Once he was prepared, he slowly began cutting the carrots into matchsticks.

\---

An hour and a half, two broken cups, and a frantic trip to the grocery store for fresh vegetables later, Ino had a decent-tasting -- a little salty, but who was counting? -- broth and two bowls ready to be filled with homemade miso ramen. He admired his work, the bulk of the mess already cleaned up and hidden in the trash, including two broken cups he intended to replace before Kiyo realized they were gone. He wiped his hands on the bottom of the apron, and was shutting his laptop when he heard the key in the lock and Kiyo's voice calling out a mumbled, "I'm home."

Ino's stomach jumped, and he looked around to make sure that everything was just so. Even after three years, Ino still felt a flutter of nerves when he thought of Kiyo. He wondered if it would ever go away, or if he would always feel that same bashful sort of excitement when he thought about his partner and the goofy way Kiyo smiled when he looked at Ino.

"Welcome home," Ino called, and he could practically hear Kiyo jump. Kiyo had given him a key to his apartment, but always acted surprised when Ino decided to use it. Footsteps thudded through from the entrance to the kitchen and Ino caught sight of a flustered and mussed Kiyo as he turned to start removing his apron.

"I didn't know you were coming over today," Kiyo said, color rising to his cheeks in the way that Ino had come to realize meant that he was both pleased and embarrassed. "It smells really good in here."

Ino couldn't help the silly smile that crossed his face, and felt his cheeks warm with the praise. "Thanks," he said, concentrating on folding the apron and setting it on the counter next to the sink. He looked over at Kiyo, who was surveying Ino's hard work with an impressed gaze, and suddenly all the hours of frustration and wasted vegetables were worth it.

"What's the occasion?" Kiyo asked, and Ino felt his stomach drop a little. Sure, they hadn’t celebrated the anniversary of the day they had confessed to each other before, but he thought that maybe the day was as memorable to Kiyo as it was to him. He rubbed at the back of his neck and refused to look at Kiyo as he stirred the miso broth with a ladle.

"Oh, um, well..." he said, feeling a little stupid. "It's not really anything." He ladled the broth into a bowl of noodles and vegetables and dropped a soft-boiled egg cut in half on the edge.

"Oh," Kiyo said. A disappointed lilt in his voice caused Ino to look up at him. "I just thought...."

"Hm?" Ino asked, pushing the bowl over to Kiyo, who pulled out two sets of disposable chopsticks from a drawer and handed one to Ino.

"It's nothing," Kiyo said, his entire face red. "I just thought, this sort of reminded me of our first d-date."

Ino released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, laughing at how silly he felt. "You remember?"

"How could I not remember?" Kiyo asked, sounding a bit indignant at Ino’s assumption. He slapped Ino's shoulder as Ino served himself some ramen. "It was the first time I ever confessed to anyone!"

"Yeah... me too," Ino said, leaning over to nudge his shoulder against Kiyo's. "That's why I made all this. Because today is...." He trailed off, not wanting to say it in case it sounded too sentimental. "I thought you might not remember, though."

"I always thought _you_ had forgotten since we just let the day go by before," Kiyo said, turning his face away to stare at the wall, giving Ino a good look at the back of his neck. Ino grinned, knowing he looked less than cool at that moment, but he didn't care. It was always like this with the two of them, he didn't know why their anniversary should have been any different.

"So the soup is a little salty, but I hope you like it," he said, hoping it would bring Kiyo out of his bashful haze. Looking down at his own broth, Ino broke his chopsticks and stirred the noodles around a little to mix the miso.

"I'm sure it's great," Kiyo said as he grabbed his bowl and took it over to the table in the living room. Ino followed him, a warm feeling spreading through his chest as he watched Kiyo kneel next to the low table. He knelt across from Kiyo, socked feet tucked comfortably beneath his body. When Kiyo got up, Ino looked up at him curiously.

"You want something to drink?" Kiyo asked.

"There's a bottle of tea in the fridge," Ino said, nodding. He picked up a clump of noodles and slurped them softly. Kiyo whistled as he went to the fridge, pulling out the bottle, then rustling around in the cupboards.

"Hey, Ino?" Kiyo called. "Where are those two glasses that I got from the 100 yen store?"

Ino's eyes widened, and he inhaled in the middle of a bite, coughing when he choked on a mouthful of noodles. In a panic, Kiyo rushed back out to the living room, and pounded on Ino's back as Ino’s face flamed with a combination of humiliation and oxygen deprivation.

"You okay?" Kiyo asked, crouching down to be at face-level with him. He soothingly stroked Ino’s back as Ino’s coughing subsided. Ino buried his face in his hands and groaned.

"About those cups," he said in a small voice.

"Hm?" Kiyo grunted, seeming more interested in Ino's well-being than in the glasses. It made him feel better, but only marginally.

"I might have broken them," he said after a long pause, risking a glance at Kiyo's face. Kiyo stared at him, and Ino couldn’t read his expression. "I was going to replace them! I don't know what happened. One minute they were on the counter filled with green onions and carrots and the next they were on the floor and there was glass everywhere."

Kiyo said nothing, and Ino had to fight the urge to cover his face with his hands and shove Kiyo away. He frowned, knowing he was dangerously close to pouting, when Kiyo started trembling next to him. Kiyo was biting his lip and by the time Ino realized his partner was laughing, the sound of it had bubbled out and filled the room. Rather than from embarrassment, Ino now wanted to shove Kiyo for making light of his suffering, but the feeling faded against the warm sound of Kiyo's mirth.

"You should have more bowls," Ino grumbled, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he shoved Kiyo's shoulder lightly. Kiyo shoved him back, and they shared a long, affectionate gaze before Kiyo stood back up.

"I'll pick some up this weekend," he said as he headed back to the kitchen, "along with some new cups. Until then, I guess we'll just have to share the bottle."

"Sure," Ino said in a faint voice, picking his chopsticks up to push the ramen around his bowl. The heat in his cheeks that had almost faded had returned full-force. It made him feel so stupid that something like the idea of an indirect kiss from sharing the same bottle could leave him feeling so flustered. They weren’t in high school anymore, after all.

Of course, he and Kiyo had done more than share the same bottle. But despite the fact that they had been together for several years they, technically, hadn't gone much further than drunken groping before one of them passed out from alcohol and exhaustion. Ino's heart still raced every time Kiyo leaned in to kiss him.

Ino put a hand over his heart, willing it to still as he took a deep, calming breath. Taking things slowly in this relationship wasn't weird: they were both inexperienced, right?

And even if it was weird, it was _their_ relationship and not anyone else's. So nobody's opinion mattered but Kiyo's and Ino's.

"How are you doing?" Kiyo asked as he sat back down, placing the bottle of tea in the middle of the table, within easy reach for both of them. "Choke on any more ramen while I was away?"

"You were gone for less than a minute," Ino complained with a smile. "I'm not some child. You just surprised me!"

"Did you really think I was going to be mad about a couple of hundred-yen cups?" Kiyo asked, scratching at the back of his neck and looking away. Ino wanted to reach over to ruffle his hair and tell him to stop being so cute, but he grabbed the bottle of tea instead and rolled it between his hands.

"No, I was just embarrassed that it had happened at all," Ino replied. "I guess I'm just lucky I didn't end up cutting myself open on the shards and having to go to the hospital with the way everything else was going tonight." He laughed self-deprecatingly and twisted the cap off the tea with a decisive jerk. He caught Kiyo's gaze and held it for a few seconds before lifting the bottle to his lips and taking a long drink. Swallowing and sighing with satisfaction, Ino offered the bottle to Kiyo, who took it. Ino caught the slightest of trembles in Kiyo's hands and was gratified that he wasn't the only one freaking out over indirect kisses.

"I'm glad that didn't happen," Kiyo said. "And I'm glad you cooked for me tonight. It's really great." He took a swig of tea, and Ino watched the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed, the shape of his lips pursed around the mouth of the bottle, and the way a droplet of tea escaped the corner of his mouth and slid down his chin. Kiyo set the tea back on the table and shrugged, wiping his chin against the shoulder of his shirt absently.

"Hey Kiyo," Ino said before his brain could talk him out of it. "Can I spend the night?"

"Huh?" Kiyo asked, blinking at the suddenness of the request. "Yeah, sure. I thought you were going to anyway. You don't have to ask, you know." He picked up his bowl and began slurping his noodles.

"Good. Yeah. Sorry, I just...." He trailed off, not knowing how he wanted to finish the sentence, just knowing that he had a nameless ache inside of him that only eased when they kissed. Ino was ready to do more than kiss, he just needed to muster up the courage to ask.

"Never mind."

Kiyo gave him a curious look, but didn't ask any questions. For a few minutes the only sound in the room was the sound of slurping as the two men finished their meal.

"Since you cooked, I can clean up," Kiyo offered, stacking the bowls and moving to stand. "And you can have the first bath."

"Thanks, I'll do that," Ino replied, stretching out his legs under the table and groaning from the satisfaction of a good meal.

"Did you bring anything to wear tonight?" Kiyo asked, bumping into him purposefully as he passed by on his way to the kitchen. Ino shook his head.

"Nope, I hadn't thought that far ahead when I came over tonight," he admitted with a short laugh, figuring that he'd just borrow a t-shirt and some boxers from Kiyo. What he hadn't counted on was the soft, 'good,' he caught from Kiyo as he entered the kitchen. Ino whipped his head around so quickly he thought he might have strained something, and caught a glance of the red tips of Kiyo's ears. Warmth spread throughout him as a knot of anticipation tightened low in his belly.

They might have been slow but they were definitely on the same wavelength.


End file.
